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Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Review: Badger SPF 30+ Sunscreen

Exams and parental visits over, I'm slowly getting back into the swing of things. To ease myself into the world of blogging again, I've decided to review this Badger SPF 30+ unscented natural mineral sunscreen I'd been using on my face while in California; which better place to test it out, right?

Before I purchased this at my local Whole Foods, I went back and forth between different sunscreen options, reading a lot about sun protection in general and what to look for in a sun cream. What I gathered is that to date, mineral sunscreens (titanium dioxide & zinc oxide) have proved the safest and most effective from all substances protecting the skin from both UVA & UVB rays. Another thing to remember is that those minerals should not be in nano particles, and on top of that I wanted something with a short and natural ingredients list; hello, furry little badger carrying a baby one wearing a sun hat. How cute is that?

Click on the image to enlarge and read the full ingredients list

On the pros side, it did protect my pale skin from the sun fairly well provided that I didn't touch my face. Unfortunately, I'm still having some allergies and with frequent nose-blowing, I aquired quite a bit of freckles on the center of my face. The thick cream also feels very moisturizing, smells of cocoa (probably thanks to the cocoa butter it contains) and doesn't break me out.

Now, onto the cons. This is a very thick and very sticky cream, and I learnt this the hard way: the oils from the sunscreen transferred on my brush and subsequently ruined my Bourjois bronzer by forming a hard layer over the soft powder, which I then had to scrub away. As you see, it's not great under powder make-up, and would be way too oily for me to use under a liquid base. Another thing to take into consideration is that it leaves a substantial white film behind, and while I was able to conceal it with some foundation and blush, on my darker-skinned mom it looked very strange indeed.

All in all, I think I'll save it for my neck, chest and hands, and use the Cellnique sunscreen on my face instead. Great sunscreen, but a definite no-no for the face. Which sunscreen have you been using lately?

6 comments:

The little badger on the tube is adorable! It's nice that they even have the PA rating, unlike most American sunscreens.

I am using the Neutrogena liquid sunscreen SPF70 for quite a while and while it doens't stop the tan(nothing does), it does stop me from getting dark within 30 minutes. They also have a natural (origin) version but I haven't tried it as it's getting mixed reviews on makeupalley.

I quickly returned my Badger's sunscreen in the blue tube. It's way too thick to spread evenly and it left me with a grey sheen.I guess that's the problem with natural sunscreens, there will always be a white or grey cast or it's too thick and oily.

I'm disappointed this didn't work well on your face. The number one most important product to me is sunscreen, especially on my face since I usually cover everything else. I've recently been working on creating an entirely cruelty free collection of products and was interested in trying this brand.

I might still give it a go as a neck/hand sunscreen though since I love how it has the UVA and PA rating.

@The Nail Buff: Thanks for the suggestion, love, I'll look for that! I still like the Badger sunscreen for other areas on my face, and yes, their lipbalms are my favorite :)

@Ashley: I think you can work it into the skin a bit more to dimish the ashy cast, but I also feel it doesn't work as effectively if you use a thin layer. But I'll keep on searching for a good mineral one!

@Rebekah: I know, I had high hopes for this too, especially that the price point is very reasonable as well. However, other products from them are definitely worth trying, especially the lipbalms!